"Out, Out—"
1916
1916
1 The buzz saw snarled and rattled in the yard
2 And made dust and dropped stove-length sticks of wood, 3 Sweet-scented stuff when the breeze drew across it. 4 And from there those that lifted eyes could count 5 Five mountain ranges one behind the other 6 Under the sunset far into Vermont. 7 And the saw snarled and rattled, snarled and rattled, 8 As it ran light, or had to bear a load. 9 And nothing happened: day was all but done. 10 Call it a day, I wish they might have said 11 To please the boy by giving him the half hour 12 That a boy counts so much when saved from work. 13 His sister stood beside him in her apron 14 To tell them 'Supper.' At the word, the saw, 15 As if to prove saws knew what supper meant, 16 Leaped out at the boy's hand, or seemed to leap-- 17 He must have given the hand. However it was, |
18 Neither refused the meeting. But the hand!
19 The boy's first outcry was a rueful laugh, 20 As he swung toward them holding up the hand 21 Half in appeal, but half as if to keep 22 The life from spilling. Then the boy saw all-- 23 Since he was old enough to know, big boy 24 Doing a man's work, though a child at heart-- 25 He saw all spoiled. 'Don't let him cut my hand off-- 26 The doctor, when he comes. Don't let him, sister!' 27 So. But the hand was gone already. 28 The doctor put him in the dark of either. 29 He lay and puffed his lips out with his breath. 30 And then—the watcher at his pulse took fright. 31 No one belived. They listened at his heart. 32 Little—less—nothing!—and that ended it. 33 No more to build on there. And they, since they 34 Were not the one dead, turned to their affairs. |
"Out, Out—" seems to leave nothing to thought at first glance, however, a deeper look into the symbolism of the events that transpire and the characters in the somber sunset scene reveals a story of the unfortunate fragility of youth and innocence. Through the contrast of the sun falling on the gorgeous Green Mountains with the macabre mixture of a boy too young with a machine to adult, Frost calls readers to contemplate life and maturity and when they fail to pleasantly meet.
The metaphysical aspects of the poem are evident; the most important being the repetition of the harsh chainsaw sounds ("snarled and rattled" (1, 7), which creates suspense and heightens the contrast between the unforgiving, mechanical appliance and the inexperience of the ill-fated boy. Another aspect is the corporal description of the boy's injury and his reaction to it, with emotional phrases like, "He saw all spoiled. 'Don't let him cut my hand off— / The doctor, when he comes. Don't let him, sister!' / So. But the hand was gone already." (25-27). The finality in the one-word sentence, "So.", contrasts with his helpless begging to keep his hand, enhancing his innocence and naivety; when the situation turns for the worst in the following lines, the gore and harm are redolent.
Because the metaphysical element relies so heavily on exaggerating and expounding on what is real, the personification of the buzz saw in lines 1, 2, 7, 8, 14, and 16 conflicts with the singularity of the metaphysical that is so prominent elsewhere, and this conflict heightens the drama of the situation. The buzz saw becomes a character in the poem, the foil of the hard-working, youthful boy; in line 14, it is included when the sister tells "them"—the boy and the saw—to come to supper.
Finally, the disruption of scenic description of the mountain sunset on the farm early in the poem—which carries romantic ideals with it—by the gory, metaphysical imagery of the boy's arm creates even more idealistic contrast, making hte reader pay attention to all of the details and how they clash and grind with each other.
Overall, the uneven combination of personification, the metaphysical, and romanticism results in a dramatic story of a boy losing his hand to an aggressive buzz saw alluding to the loss of innocence all people face.
The metaphysical aspects of the poem are evident; the most important being the repetition of the harsh chainsaw sounds ("snarled and rattled" (1, 7), which creates suspense and heightens the contrast between the unforgiving, mechanical appliance and the inexperience of the ill-fated boy. Another aspect is the corporal description of the boy's injury and his reaction to it, with emotional phrases like, "He saw all spoiled. 'Don't let him cut my hand off— / The doctor, when he comes. Don't let him, sister!' / So. But the hand was gone already." (25-27). The finality in the one-word sentence, "So.", contrasts with his helpless begging to keep his hand, enhancing his innocence and naivety; when the situation turns for the worst in the following lines, the gore and harm are redolent.
Because the metaphysical element relies so heavily on exaggerating and expounding on what is real, the personification of the buzz saw in lines 1, 2, 7, 8, 14, and 16 conflicts with the singularity of the metaphysical that is so prominent elsewhere, and this conflict heightens the drama of the situation. The buzz saw becomes a character in the poem, the foil of the hard-working, youthful boy; in line 14, it is included when the sister tells "them"—the boy and the saw—to come to supper.
Finally, the disruption of scenic description of the mountain sunset on the farm early in the poem—which carries romantic ideals with it—by the gory, metaphysical imagery of the boy's arm creates even more idealistic contrast, making hte reader pay attention to all of the details and how they clash and grind with each other.
Overall, the uneven combination of personification, the metaphysical, and romanticism results in a dramatic story of a boy losing his hand to an aggressive buzz saw alluding to the loss of innocence all people face.